Conveyer table



Dec. 30 W39. E. w. MIKAELSON CONVEYER TABLE 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 11, 1928 gnuwwfoz /M,MM I

Dec. MB, 19311.. E. w. MIKAELSON 1,7865% CONVEYER TABLE Filed Sept. 11, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fatented Dec. 30,1930

1 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ERIK W. MIKAELSON, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO TBEADWELL ENGI- NEERING COMPANY, OF IEASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA CONVEYER TABLE Application filed September 11, 1928. Serial No. 305,245,

This invention relates to roller tables for conveying material from one point to another, and has for its object the prov sion of novel means for retarding or arresting the movement of the conveyed material. Such a retarding means is particularly useful in connection with that type of conveyer table which is adapted to receive metal blanksfrom a rolling mill, commonly known as a run-outtable.

Owing to the high speed at which rolling mills are usually operated, the metal leaves the miil with considerable velocity, and it is customary to provide a series of conveyer rollers adjacent the mill rolls to receive the metal blanks issuing therefrom. The blanks received by the conveyer are then carried to some convenient point for delivery or for performing some further operation thereon. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a cooling bed is disposed laterally of the conveyer, and mechanism is provided for passing the blanks from the conveyer to the cooling bed for subsequent treatment.

The conveyer rollers are frequently power driven and rotate at a high peripheral speed, sometimes exceeding 2000 feet per minute, and it is therefore necessary to provide some means for retarding the movement of the metal blanks on the conveyer prior to delivery therefrom. Owing to the high speed of the rollers, it has been found impractical to control the movement of the blanks by retarding or stopping the rollers. According to the present invention, this difiiculty is overcome by the provision of means for engaging the under side of the moving metal blanks to cause frictional retardation of the progress thereof and to simultaneously decrease the frictional driving engagement between the power driven rollers and the blanks by shifting the weight of the latter either partially or wholly to the engaging means, hereinafter specifically referred to as aprons.

It has furthermore been found that in the rolling of hot thin metal strips, such strips are not always straight, and frequently have a tendency to bend downwardly at their forward ends. It thus sometimes occurs that the metal strips fail to clear the leading portion of the aprons, resulting in the jamming of the strip and consequent serious de lay in the operation of the mill. Such occurrences are avoided in the present construction by so positioning the aprons that their leading portions lie closely adjacent the corresponding rollers and by providing mechanism for constraining the aprons to move to blank engaging position through a path which follows the roller contour. By this arrangement the spacing between each roller and the following apron may be made as small as is necessary to prevent the entrance of the blank into the aperture and the resultant bending and jamming of the blank regardless of the position of the apron.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism for movin an apron through a circular path approximating the contour of the preceding roller to engage and lift a blank from the roller, and to provide separate means for shifting the blank laterally of the roller.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a roller table embodying one form of my invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, a conveyer table comprising a supporting frame indicated generally at 10 and provided with a plurality of conveyer rollers 11 is disclosed. These rollers may be idlers or may be driven by any suitable mechanism, but I have chosen to represent the roller drive as consisting of a plurality of in dividual motors 12, each serving to rotate a single conveyer roller only. The rollers are arranged in series, any suitable number being employed depending on the conditions of their use. Where the rollers are to be used in connection with a rolling mill, the series of rollers will be located directly in the rear of the mill so as to receive the metal after it has passed through the mill rolls. The conveyer rollers are suitably spaced along the supporting frame, and a retarding device 14 for the conveyed material is located between each pair of spaced rollers. The retarding devices may have any desired form or dimensions, but are preferably constructed with flat upper surfaces for engagement with the conveyed material, and may therefore be conveniently referred to as aprons. A suitable number of these aprons may be supported on horizontally extending members 15 in such manner that the engaging surface of each apron lies slightly below the conveying surface of the rollers when in its lowest position. It will thus be seen that the aprons do not normally interfere with the rollers during the conveying operation.

\Vhen it is desired to retard or stop the progress of the conveyed material, the aprons are lifted to engage with the under side of the material which will then be frictionally retarded. If the aprons are elevated sufficiently to lift the material free of the conveying rollers, the material will then slide on the aprons until the forward movement thereof is terminated.

In order to prevent the conveyed material from striking the forward edges of the aprons and thereby interfering with the proper operation of the conveyer, the forward edge of each apron is curved downwardly, and this curved edge is positioned in close proximity to the adjacent leading roller. It will now be seen that if the aprons are lifted vertically, there will be a resulting space between each apron and its corresponding roller which may permit the conveyed material to strike the forward edge of the apron, especially if the material in question is of a flexible nature, such as thin hot metal strips. In order to prevent such an occurrence, means are provided for so elevating the aprons that the curved forward edge will substantially follow the contour of the corresponding leading roller during the elevating movement. This means, which is indicated generally at 16, may be constructed in various ways, but is preferably so arranged as to engage and support the horizontally extending member 15 at a plurality of points in order to distribute the load. In the preferred embodiment of the invention a plurality of pairs of rods 17 spaced at convenient intervals along the member 15, are rigidly secured to the latter by means of nuts 18 which permit of adjustment of the effective length of the rods. Each pair of rods is connected to corresponding arms 19 on the rock shaft 20 which is suitably journalled in the'supporting frame. It will thus be seen that on rotation of the several rock shafts, the member 15 and the aprons 14 will be moved through an arc, the radius of the are being determined by the effective length ofthe arms 19 which preferably approximates the radius of the conveyer rollers.

In the construction shown in the drawings this radius is somewhat smaller than the roller radius but it will be understood that the exact relationship of the radius of the rollers and the length of the arms is not important, since the distance through which the aprons are moved is relatively small. A lever arm 21 is rigidly connected to each rock shaft 20 and is pivoted at its opposite end to the link 22. This link may be operated by any suitable means, the means disclosed in the drawing comprising a pitman 23 which is connected with a lever 24 for actuating the rock shaft 25. A suitable counter-weight 26 is rigidly connected to an arm 27 on the rock shaft 25. It will be noted that this counter-weight maintains the aprons and their common supporting member 15 in a state of equilibrium, to facilitate the elevation of the same. A pitman 28 connected to an arm 29 on the rock shaft 25 serves to operate the train of links and levers connected to the member 15 and will thereby elevate the aprons into engagement with the conveyed material for retarding the motion of the same on the rollers or for elevating the material to a position in which it is disengaged entirely from the rollers. During this elevating movement the forward downwardly curved edge of each apron will follow substantially the contour of the adjacent leading roll.

Various other mechanical movements may be substituted for the means 16 disclosed herein, although it is preferable for the reasons hereinbefore stated to select some movement which will serve to elevate the aprons through the desired arcuate path. As shown in the drawings, a plurality of supporting members 15, each provided with connections to the link 22, may be required to properly support and elevate the aprons in the event that a long conveyer table is used.

While the arrangement thus far described is applicable to any conveyer table, it is of particular advantage when used in connection with a rolling mill. As is hereinbefore stated, it is customary to shift the rolled metal from the conveyer or run-out table to a laterally arranged cooling bed. In order to accomplish this function, the aprons may be divided into two sections as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A member 31 is adapted to move across the run-out table between the apron sections to remove the conveyed metal to either side of the table after the forward motion of the metal has been retarded or stopped by the elevation of the aprons. This member may be mounted in any desired manner but is preferablv constructed to slide in guides 32 which are provided on the frame of the machine. The actuating mechanism for the member may assume any suitable form and is shown for llh the purpose of illustration as comprising a pitman 33, lever 34 and link 35. The link 35 may be operated in any convenient manner from a driving motor to reciprocate the member 31 across" the path of movement of the conveyed metal. In the arrangement disclosed, two cooling beds, indicated generally at 36, are provided, one on either side of the conveyer table. Reciprocation of the member 31 will serve to remove alternate metal blanks from the runout table to one or the other of the laterally disposed cooling beds. As shown in Fig. 3, the member 31 has just removed a metal blank to the right hand side of the table and is about to reverse its movement and remove vthe succeeding blank to the opposite side of the table. At the conclusion of this reverse movement the member 31 will occupy the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

As hereinbefore stated, this invention is particularly applicable to the handling of thin rolled metal strips which are ejected from the rolling'mill with considerable velocity, this velocity being normally continued or even accelerated by the high speed of the conveying rollers. By reason of the arcuate movement of the aprons to their elevating position the strip is prevented from bending at its forward end and jamming between the aprons and the rollers. It will be appreciated, however, that the mechanism disclosed herein is useful in retarding or stopping the movement of material on a roller conveyer regardless of the nature of the material conveyed.

The invention is therefore not limited to the details disclosed in the particular embodiment thereof selected for the purpose of illustration, but may assume various forms within the spirit and scope of the ap ended claims.

aving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a conveyer roller, of means having a substantially flat surface for engaging the conveyed material to retard the progress thereof, and mechanism for moving said means about the contour of the roller to material engaging position in such manner that the said surface lies in parallel planes'during the movement thereof.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a roller for manipulating metal blanks, of means for removing the blanks from said roller, said means comprising an element having a substantially flat blank-engaging surface and movable into and out of blank engaging position, and mechanism for constraining said element to follow a curved path approximating the contour of the roller in either direction of movement, said surface occupying parallel planes in the two positions of movement.

3 3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination witha series of conveyer rollers, of means for engaging and elevating the ma terial conveyed thereby to a position above said rollers, and mechanism for moving said means through a curved path approximating the contour of the rollers into material engaging position, said means comprising a series of lifting elements, one of said elements beng associated with each of the said rollers and movable about the contour thereof.

4. In a conveyer table for receiving rolled metal from a rolling mill, the combination with a supporting frame, of a plurality of conveyerrollers mounted thereon, means for driving said rollers continuously at a high speed, and means .for elevating the conveyed metal above the rollers whereby the transfer of metal may be retarded and stopped without reducing the speed of' the rollers, said means comprising a series of lifting aprons interposed between adjacent rollers, and mechanism operable to elevate said aprons into position to engage and support said conveyed metal. i 3

5. In a conveyer table for receiving rolled metal from a rolling mill, the combination with a supporting frame, of a plurality of conveyer rollers mounted thereon, means for driving said rollers continuously at a high speed, and means for elevating the conveyed metal above the rollers where by the transfer of metal may be retarded and stopped without reducing the speed of the rollers, said means comprising a series of lifting aprons interposed between adjacent rollers, and mechanism operable to move said aprons in a curved path to a position for engaging and supporting said conveyed metal.

6. In a conveyer table for receiving rolled metal from a rolling mill, the combination with a supporting frame, of a plurality of conveyer rollers mounted thereon, means for driving said rollers continuously at a high speed, and means for elevating theconveyed metal above the rollers whereby the transfer of metal may be retarded and stopped without reducing the speed of the rollers, said means comprising a series of lifting aprons interposed between adjacent rollers, and mechanism operable to move said aprons in a curved path following the contour of said rollers for engaging and elevating said conveyed metal.

7 A run-out table for rolling mills comprising a plurality of rollers for receiving and conveying rolled metal from the mill, a series if aprons disposed between adjacent rollers, each apron having its forward edge disposed in close proximity to the periphery of the adjacent leading roller, said aprons being normally disposed below the conveying surface of the rollers, and mechanism for elevating said aprons to engage and lift the con veyed metal to a position above the rollers, the forward edge of each apron follo ng substantially the contour of the COIIGSlmrHling leading roller during the operation of said mechanism.

8. In a run-out table for receiving and conveying thin rolled metal sheets from a rolling mill, the combination with a supporting frame, of a plurality of rollers for receiving and conveying the rolled metal from said mill. means for rotating said rollers continuously at a high speed, a series of aprons disposed between adjacent rollers, each apron being provided with a downwardly curved "forward edge disposed in close proximity to the periphery of the adjacent leading roller, said aprons normally occupying a position below the eliective conveying surface of the rollers, and mechanism for causing said aprons to move upwardly in such manner that the curved forward edges thereof follow substantially the contour of the corresponding leading rollers for elevating the rolled sheets to a position above said rollers whereby the progress of the rolled sheets is retarded Without retarding the rotation of the conveying rollers.

9. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a series of rollers for conveying material, of means for engaging the material being conveyed to retard the progress thereof, and means for thereafter engaging and moving said material laterally of said series of rollers.

10. The combination with a run-out table for rolling mills having a series of rollers thereon for receiving and conveying metal blanks from a mill, of a cooling bed arranged laterally of said table, means for engaging the conveyed blanks to retard the progress thereof. and means for moving said blanks from said table to said bed.

1]. The combination With a run-out table for rolling mills having a series of rollers thereon for receiving and conveying metal blanks from a mill, of a cooling bed arranged laterally of said table, means for engaging the conveyed blanks to retard the progress thereof, and means for thereafter engaging and moving said blanks from said table to said bed.

12. The combination with a run-out table for rolling mills having a series of rollers thereon for receiving and conveying metal blanks from a mill, of a cooling bed arranged laterally of said table, means for elevating the conveyed blanks to a position above said table, and means for thereafter engaging and moving said blanks onto said laterally arranged bed.

13. The combination with a run-out table tor rolling mills having a series of rollers thereon for receiving and conveying metal signature.

ERIK W. MIKAELSON. 

